Single Stamina
Recap It's winter in New York and Marshall, Lily, Ted and Robin are in "couple's hibernation" leaving Barney out in the cold. Finally, Barney announces that he has asked his brother, James, to be his wingman. Lily explains to Robin (who has never met James) that James is exactly like Barney except that he's gay. However, when he comes in the door, Robin is shocked to learn that he also happens to be black. James reveals that he is, in fact, just like Barney: from suits, to laser tag, to blogging. Robin asks about their different color skin but they decline to explain (Future Ted explains that they got many different excuses for this from their mom growing up, eating only vanilla ice cream with Barney and only chocolate ice cream with James, "just one of those things", or they are just a bunch of racists). James convinces the rest of the gang to join him and Barney for night on the town. They go to a trendy bar where the two couples promptly find somewhere to sit leaving Barney and James to help each other pick up dates. But James keeps declining any potential suitors causing Robin and Lily to deduce that he's in a relationship. They tell Barney that his brother is in a monogamous relationship. Barney doesn't want to admit it but when he confronts James he finds out James is getting married. Barney is upset. He and James head back to MacLaren's where Barney demands to know how James could do this. While Barney has no problem with gay marriage in particular, he hates the idea of marriage. When James asks Barney to be his best man, Barney refuses. Barney decides to end the marriage by taking James and the gang to a gay bar and fixing James up with a new man. Lily and Robin enjoy not being hit on and Marshall and Ted revel in the attention they receive. However, the boys soon grow tired of the flirtations of men. Meanwhile, Barney has no success getting James to stray. Finally, James explains that he and his fiancé Tom are adopting a son. With a baby in the picture, Barney quickly changes his mind about the marriage. A year later, Barney is the best man at James and Tom's wedding and Marshall and Lily are married. Barney tells his nephew that in twenty and a half years he will teach him how to live. He then goes on to pick up a distraught girl. Continuity *At James' wedding a year later, Ted and Robin do not leave the reception when Lily and Marshall do, implying that they now have single stamina again, thus alluding to their break-up in , the story of which they share with Barney in . *Barney exclaims "Daddy's home!" upon entering the club. He previously used this as a pick-up line in . *Barney and James' mother never gave them a straight answer about their differing skin colours; her dishonesty with them is referenced again in and . *When the gang tries to encourage Barney to support James' decision, Ted mentions he supported his sister's marriage despite her husband wearing "sandals and socks". Ted's sister Heather is introduced in , where Ted mentions her getting "married for 5 days". *In , we see James and Tom's son grown up and also learn that they adopted another kid. *Barney says he decided not to include James's "hetero college" phase in his best man speech. In , Barney describes going to James for advice about women after breaking up with his college girlfriend Shannon (as seen in ), where James mentions having a girlfriend, and explains that it occured "before he was gay", though several of James' comments imply that he was in the closet at the time. *When Robin asks James and Barney about their upbringing, both brothers chuckle and say "Please." This is the same response Barney gives when asked what he does for a living, as he does in and . *James reveals in that he and Tom are getting divorced. *Barney complains about being left out as the only single person in a group of couples, which Future Ted also points out. The same thing happens to Ted in . Gallery Single stamina.png James stinson.png James and Barney.jpg Tom & James.png Eli.png Memorable Quotes Notes and Trivia Goofs and Errors Allusions and Outside References *Barney refers to the two lazy couples as "Grandparents of Willy Wonka" in reference to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, where all four of Charlie Bucket's grandparents share the same bed, which they never leave. *A girl in the bar says her scarf is H&M, a famous Swedish clothing brand. *During Barney and James' pickup act at the bar, Barney deflects James with the phrase "Popozao", referring to a Kevin Federline song of the same name. *Ted wears a shirt with a on it. *When trying to get the gang to party, James talks about boys and girls in Wyoming hanging at someones basement. This is possibly a reference to That 70s Show where the main cast often spends time in Eric's basement. Music *Skyway - The Replacements *Mama Your Boys Will Find a Home - Scissors for Lefty *If I Could Split - Kite Flying Society (DVD only) Other Notes *In the sitcom, Barney and James are straight and gay respectively. Coincidentally, this is the exactly the opposite for the real-life counterparts: Neil Patrick Harris is gay, whilst Wayne Brady is straight. *In , Tom is played by actor Jai Rodriguez. He and the man that appears in this episode don't look alike at all. Guests *Wayne Brady - James Stinson * - Girl at bar with Tattoo * - Scotty *Sarah Cahill - Rosa * - Barney's Mother (voice only) Reception James McCracken of The Reviewer gave it a 9 out of 10. gave the episode 8.2 out of 10. http://tv.ign.com/articles/794/794246p1.html References External Links * * * Category:Episodes Category:season 2 Category:Wedding episodes